Bender's Big Day Leads Bears Past Owls, 81-71

Tuesday, December 22

Kennesaw, GA.

2:00 PM

Mercer University

7-1,0-0SoCon

Kennesaw State

3-5,0-0ASUN

Mercer

Kennesaw St.

Photo by: Kyle Hess/KSU Athletics

Bender's Big Day Leads Bears Past Owls, 81-71

12/22/2020 4:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Bender scored a career-high 21 points in the win.

By: Kraig Doremus

KENNESAW, Ga. – Maciej Bender had an afternoon to remember inside Kennesaw State's Convocation Center. His career-high 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting led the Mercer Bears past the Owls, 81-71, on Tuesday afternoon.

Despite a slow start for the Bears, Bender quickly found his rhythm on the offensive end of the floor, scoring Mercer's first seven points of the contest.

Kennesaw State (3-5) led by as many as seven early in the first half, 20-13, but a 7-0 run by the Orange & Black knotted the score at 20. James Glisson III began the run with an old-fashioned three-point play before Bender hit a jumper and threw down a dunk to tie the contest.

With 6:54 remaining until the intermission, the Owls took the lead for rest of the first half. Kennesaw State extended its lead to as many as nine, which would be its largest of the contest, before Mercer cut the deficit to seven, 38-31, by the time the halftime horn sounded.

Mercer (7-1) opened the final half on an 12-4 run to take the lead with 17:04 remaining after Bender threw down a monstrous dunk in transition off a pass from Jeff Gary. Kennesaw State last held the advantage at 53-50 before Leon Ayers III hit a three-pointer, knotting the score at 53.The Owls tied the contest only once more before Ross Cummings connected from downtown to give Mercer the lead for good, 58-55, with 8:03 remaining. The Bears slowly increased their advantage, leading by as many as 11 when Ayers III hit a layup, absorbed the contact and knocked down the ensuing free throw.

A late Kennesaw State run cut Mercer's lead to five, 73-68, with only 70 seconds to go, but Greg Gary's Bears ended the contest on an 8-3 run to secure the 81-71 victory and conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-1 record.

Bender led the way with a game-high 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Despite a scoreless opening half, Cummings contributed 15 points. Ayers III also scored 15 points while Felipe Haase recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Neftali Alvarez was the fifth and final Bear reached double figures with 10 points. The Bears shot 30-of-62 (48.4 percent) on the night but struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on only 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) tries. Mercer missed just four shots from the charity stripe while making 16 for an 80 percent showing.

Spencer Rodgers led the Owls with 20 points in the losing effort. Rodgers shot 7-of-13 from the floor and made three of his four three-point attempts. Terrell Burden (17 points) and Chris Youngblood (10 points) also reached double figures. Kennesaw State shot 24-of-58 from the floor (41.4 percent).

Coach Gary Quotables
ON THE SLOW START
"We have to fix it. We have conference play coming up and have great teams in our conference. We weren't cutting hard, so it's easy to guard when we don't do that. We did a lot of 1-of-1 stuff and that will get you beat. We played with more energy and toughness in the second half. They played harder than we did in the first half, and we matched their energy in the second half."

ON MACIEJ BENDER
"I felt like he could have a big game, and he did. He did a great job finishing around the basket."

ON THE UPCOMING BATTLE WITH WOFFORD
"We'll have a few days off and get back at it relatively quickly to prepare for Wofford. It's conference time, and we're excited."

NOTABLES

The Bears will enter Southern Conference play with a 7-1 record.
The Bears improved to 5-1 against teams in the state of Georgia this season.
Mercer's seven wins entering league action are the most since 2015-16. The 2015-16 team won 10 games prior to the start of SoCon play.
The Bears are now 18-6 overall against KSU and 6-0 since joining the Southern Conference (2014-15).
Kamar Robertson made his season debut. The sophomore guard his hit only field goal attempt on the night and also pulled down one rebound.
Bender hit 10 shots from the floor, a career-best. His 21 points are also a new career-high.
The Bears' 10 miscues are their second lowest turnover total this season.
Ross Cummings needs just 17 points to reach the 1,000-point mark. The last Bear to reach 1,000 points was Ethan Stair. Stair accomplished the feat at Samford in Jan. 2020.
Jeff Gary's streak of 15 consecutive games with a three-pointer was snapped. Gary went 0-for-2 from beyond the arc in the win.

UP NEXT
The Bears will host Wofford on Dec. 29 to begin Southern Conference play. The game will be televised on ESPNU while Rick Cameron will have the call on the Mercer Sports Network (100.9 The Creek, Sports Mic). Tip time is 7 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerMBB (Twitter), /MercerBasketball (Facebook) and @Mercer_MBB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.